The Better Chocolate

08/09/2024

Happy Birthday Happy Birthday to my dearest Nicole Templeton. ❤️🎉 🥳 🎂 ❤️ 25 already!

To my most special and precious little Nicki: look how far you’ve grown!

And what a stellar milestone Nicki, as you start Teacher’s College tomorrow!

You set your sights on devoting your life to helping and working with little kids, and you got there!

You put your head down, put in so much work, and did it. Found your career path (after graduating from a demanding business degree at McGill).

So, so proud and happy for you Nicki. 🌟🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜 You will be a wonderful teacher!

All your life, you’ve had such incredible and special traits between your kindness, insight and resilience.

And you've been faced with a lot of bumps and challenges Nicki. I wish I could have paved a smoother path for you - yet look at the strong, wise young woman you've blossomed into.

What I’m the deepest and most heartfelt grateful for, every minute of every day Nicki, is you and your brother. And the deep joy you bring me.

Every day I feel grateful to have you by my side, to text and FT and visit and have your adorable little Potato tear through whatever that little tank is up to! haha

Love you to the end of the universe and back my Nicki!

Happy Birthday, Mommy xoxo ❤️🎉 🥳 🎂 ❤️

26/06/2024

DAY Cohort 17 is TODAY. Such an honour to be one of their panellists!

Thank you for having me! Will be a wickedly fun morning together!

For many of us budding Entrepreneurs in Canada, our journey starts either with Venturepark Labs and Demo Day or with Dragon's Den

I was part of Cohort IV back in late 2017.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Arlene Dickinson who continues to be the trailblazer supporter of Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship in Canada!

This wonderful incubator helped me springboard my launch of Love Good Foods across Canada!

I remember that Demo day like it was yesterday!!

And a big thanks to all the Retailers that listed my brand right then, on the spot, after my PITCH ...

Now I get to sit on the other side of the Pitches as I'm part of an illustrious group of judges! Monica Walker Walker Robin Stewart Randy Whitteker from Ontario Natural Food Company

Memory Lane pictures below !

Kalyan Chinnamanthur

And Thank you to all the RSVPs - excited to meet everyone
Sobeys BMO Tree of Life Canada Longo's Healthy Planet Ontario Natural Food Company) Pusateri's Fine Foods R. Denninger Limited Grey Jay Sales & Distribution Kyle Marsham FCC / FAC Labs alumni, Peopletail, Candy Design District Ventures Capital

My gang: Founders Helping Founders
Karen Young Melanie Webb Vanessa Graterol Cipriani
Melissa Pazmino Mateo Guevara
David Mock

03/06/2024

03/06/2024

HAPPY PRIDE Month kick-off! ha +
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 “… Mommy…. everyone is so so happy!!!” ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

My 24-year-old girl, Nicki, my pride-and-joy, said this to me while we were on a patio at Toronto Pride last June.

This year will be her 23rd year attending Toronto Pride. Her first was when she was just 2 years old …and I was nervous; I had just come out.

Just so so much happiness, celebrations, hugs and lots of kisses!

However, Pride 2024 is taking a sombre twist across North America.

We’ve had threats of violence at events everywhere. Real threats.

We have bashing of influencers, bashing of pronouns, and laws being overturned.

Women’s rights about their bodies have turned back 50 years of progress.

For 5 years now, I’ve been a vocal voice of the LGBT community, as a proud founder and CEO of one of the fastest Canadian Start-ups ever.

Doing my best to model and share that, yes, indeed, diversity is worth it. Yet, I’ve had dozens of comments re. “Why does your packaging say that you’re Women’s Owned and LGBT Owned?

I’ve started my second start-up with the co-man’s in South America. I’ve made 9 trips down already and will be back again next week.

So I’ve been living and breathing the culture there: there is still a lot of work to shift acceptance.

Partly due to religion (I was in the closet so long in part due to my Catholic upbringing) and partly due to less visibility that it’s ok to be who you want to be.

I hope to be inspiring and modelling. Today, I still face:

⇒ hashtag (I started my first start-up at age 50)
⇒ I’m a hashtag (yes, women-owned founders get less than 7% of all VC monies still)

⇒ I’m a later-in-life hashtag
⇒ I’m on the hashtag spectrum
⇒ I’m a French-raised Quebecoise. My beloved culture often feels like an ocean away from English Canada.

I always knew I "was different".

Importantly, now what?

We need to continue to support and celebrate diversity. Love is Love. Being you is being you - without judgment.

We still have so much work to do to make our world entirely free of persecution and open to diversity.

Practically speaking :

⇒ If you have kids or friends that want to come out, just talk, come to Pride but they’re not sure, open the door to a conversation

⇒ review your hiring practices, check in on your internal culture

⇒ If you’re a Retailer, support your LGBT brands proudly in your stores this summer

Celebration of diversity drives more acceptance. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Happy Pride ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Join me on Church/Wellesley Pride week June 26-30th. Melanie Webb HAPPY PRIDE Month kick-off! +
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 “… Mommy…. everyone is so so happy!!!” ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

My 24-year-old girl, Nicki, my pride-and-joy, said this to me while we were on a patio at Toronto Pride last June.

This year will be her 23rd year attending Toronto Pride. Her first was when she was just 2 years old …and I was nervous; I had just come out.

Just so so much happiness, celebrations, hugs and lots of kisses!

However, Pride 2024 is taking a sombre twist across North America.

We’ve had threats of violence at events everywhere. Real threats.

We have bashing of influencers, bashing of pronouns, and laws being overturned.

Women’s rights about their bodies have turned back 50 years of progress.

For 5 years now, I’ve been a vocal voice of the LGBT community, as a proud founder and CEO of one of the fastest Canadian Start-ups ever.

Doing my best to model and share that, yes, indeed, diversity is worth it. Yet, I’ve had dozens of comments re. “Why does your packaging say that you’re Women’s Owned and LGBT Owned?

I’ve started my second start-up with the co-man’s in South America. I’ve made 9 trips down already and will be back again next week.

So I’ve been living and breathing the culture there: there is still a lot of work to shift acceptance.

Partly due to religion (I was in the closet so long in part due to my Catholic upbringing) and partly due to less visibility that it’s ok to be who you want to be.

I hope to be inspiring and modelling. Today, I still face:

⇒ hashtag (I started my first start-up at age 50)
⇒ I’m a hashtag (yes, women-owned founders get less than 7% of all VC monies still)

⇒ I’m a later-in-life hashtag
⇒ I’m on the hashtag spectrum
⇒ I’m a French-raised Quebecoise. My beloved culture often feels like an ocean away from English Canada.

I always knew I "was different".

Importantly, now what?

We need to continue to support and celebrate diversity. Love is Love. Being you is being you - without judgment.

We still have so much work to do to make our world entirely free of persecution and open to diversity.

Practically speaking :

⇒ If you have kids or friends that want to come out, just talk, come to Pride but they’re not sure, open the door to a conversation

⇒ review your hiring practices, check in on your internal culture

⇒ If you’re a Retailer, support your LGBT brands proudly in your stores this summer

Celebration of diversity drives more acceptance. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Happy Pride ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Join me on Church/Wellesley Pride week June 26-30th. Melanie Webb Vanessa Graterol Cipriani Purity Life Health Products Melissa Pazmino Rikitikitak Yorke

30/05/2024

Dutch Chocolate sounds “Good” right? …. WRONG!

Check the ingredients declaration of your favorite chocolate bar or snacks: “….processed with alkali….” (i.e., Dutch).

According to Wikipedia: “Dutch processed cocoa, Dutch cocoa, or alkalized cocoa, is cocoa solids that have been treated with an alkalizing agent to reduce the natural acidity of cocoa, giving it a less bitter taste (and darker colour) compared to "natural cocoa" extracted with the Broma process. It forms the basis for much of modern chocolate, and is used in ice cream, hot chocolate, and baking.”

“Alkalizing agents employed vary, but include potassium carbonate (E501), sodium carbonate (E500), and/or sodium hydroxide (E525).”

I don't get it.

We take one of the highest antioxidant-rated products on the planet, pure cacao, and bombard it with alkalizing agents.

Then, we add sugar and not good fats and sell this around the world as a guilty pleasure ... and a reward for kids who behave, etc.

The “Dutch method” i.e. “processed with Alkalki” DESTROYS most of the antioxidants in pure cacao.

Between 60-90% of the antioxidants in Cacao are LOST during the process of making pure chocolate and processing.

60-90%... gone!

I get why big food companies did this back when....

But today, we don't need to keep buying this processed cacao!

We can go back to the ingredient: one of the richest ingredients in the world!

Pure cacao is known to have one of the highest % of antioxidants and flavanols.

In fact, pure, unprocessed cacao has the highest ORAC rating of Antioxidants of any food out there.

An impressive ORAC* rating of 80,000-100,000 per 100g.

More than 20 times higher than most fruits like apples, blueberries and raspberries (1000-2400)

Yes -we all love Antioxidants!

They play a crucial role in maintaining overall health and well-being.

They help protect the body's cells from oxidative stress, which occurs when there is an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the body's ability to neutralize them.

Oxidative stress can lead to cellular damage and inflammation, which are associated with various health problems

Back to antioxidants: the only higher ratings are a bunch of spices and Acai berries or Moringa are a bit higher.

Avoid processing. Help our farmers. Help the earth by growing cacao beans in season after season.

Support Bean-to-Bar Chocolate.... not Dutch/alkali/processed.

Buy pure cacao powder, buy pure cacao nibs.

Buy FourX The Better Chocolate. Please.

MeMelanie WebbaVanessa Graterol CiprianiaMateo GuevaraeMelissa Pazminobeantobar

Check link below to the NIH ORAC Values Study chart (2007).
*Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity

27/05/2024

Why does the Founder of a new pure Chocolate co. Start-up travel back and forth 6,000 km and work with the R&D team non-stop?

I just landed back in Toronto last night and will be back there in 2 weeks... why you ask?

=> Yes sure, hashtag and hashtag in particular are spectacular This is by far my new most favourite part of South America now bar none.

However, the reason is that I'm doing what NO ONE ELSE has done yet!

=> I'm on a Mission to revolutionize the chocolate industry by creating the most delicious and "best-for-you" pure chocolate family of products. Yes make chocolate "healthy" again.

Chocolate and Protein bars:
Most chocolate bars contain only 2-5% of actual Cacao and 40-60g of Sugar and a bunch of crap. No wonder "chocolate = guilt" for many ... including me for 50 years!

Chocolate options with protein contain a bunch of crap: Sucralose, Hydrogenated Palm and Palm kernel oil, Corn maltodextrin, Corn Syrup and these list goes one

Vitamins:
Vitamins Gummy bars are full of bad stuff too! Sugar, more sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavoring, food coloring, citric acid and gelatin

At FourX The Better Chocolate, it's all about our P-R-O-D-U-C-T-S and the P-L-A-N-E-T

Products:
- Pure dark and milk chocolate
- 0g of Sugar added
- infused with vitamins, minerals, protein, Pre-Biotics
- highest possible antioxidants and flavanols (ORAC ratings)
- only good good ingredients!
- Soy free, Gluten Free

So you get to enjoy absolutely DELICIOUS Pure dark and milk chocolate that you can eat all day long or to replace your gummy bears.

Planet:
- Fair Trade Certified
- Organic Cacao
- Bean-to-Bar
- Meet the Farmers
- Non-GMO Certified
- Kosher

And of course, Women's Owned, LGBT owned.

Who else is doing this??

All our new innovations are coming soon! Follow me here! Tag, comment and Share the word! Change is coming!!!

Melanie Webb Vanessa Graterol Cipriani Melissa PazminoMateo Guevara Rikitikitak Yorkeg

FourX Better Chocolate - Chocolate Bites, Variety Pack, 5 × 112 g

25/05/2024

The best part of my job!!
R&D on our pure organic chocolate innovation right here in hashtag

Is there anything better than spending days/day tweaking and testing?

Roasting, conching, tempering and testing. hashtag

It's a MUST!

I'm trying to do what has NEVER been done yet : Pure organic chocolate with 0g of Sugar added and Protein, Pre-Biotics, with the Bean-to-Bar™ Method and Single Origin beans from Peru.

There is no other way!. Scrappy-Suzie with a small team of awesomeness talent...

Here is our Story at FourX The Better Chocolate:

Welcome to our journey of revolutionizing chocolate with a mission to create the most delicious and "best-for-you" pure chocolate family of products.

The Benefits of Authentic, Organic Cacao :

All of our products are crafted from the highest quality, Single Origin, Organic Peruvian cacao beans sourced from the rich fields of Satipo.

Using the Bean-to-Bar™ method, we unlock the full spectrum of natural benefits from cacao, one of the world's most powerful antioxidants.

Pure cacao boasts an impressive ORAC rating of 80,000-100,000, more than double that of average dark chocolate and 20 times higher than most fruits like apples and raspberries.

=> Only a few select spices and acai berries come close to the antioxidant power of pure cacao.

Quality and Purity : No Alkali, No "Dutch"
We pride ourselves on using cacao that is not "Dutch" or "Alkalized," meaning it is free from alkaline processing used by most mass-produced chocolates to alter taste and color.

The Bean-to-Bar™ Method:
Every chocolate we make is produced in small batches:

This Bean-to-Bar™ Method ensures the highest quality and flavour, from the :
- careful steps of fermentation of the freshly picked cacao beans in wooden boxes covered with their own leaves,
- to air drying, sorting, roasting, cracking, grinding, and tempering.

All done in our craft, small batches factory.

Preserving Essential Nutrients :
Our meticulous harvesting and gentle processing techniques preserve the essential flavanols and antioxidants that are lost in mass-produced chocolates.

=>This makes our cacao one of the most potent and powerful superfoods available.

Enjoy the Difference:
By choosing our cacao family of products you're not only getting the richest and most pure chocolate but also fueling your body with a richness of natural antioxidants and wellness boosters.

Melanie Webb Vanessa Graterol Cipriani Melissa Pazmino Stas Mironov Mateo Guevara

28/04/2024

The BAD news: I won't be running the TO marathon next Sunday.

The GOOD news: I will be surfing, biking, running and being SCIENTIST-SUZIE, formulating lots of lots of our new innovation. 🏃🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️🚴🏻‍♀️

Indeed- I popped back down to Miraflores, Peru. Just landed. We have an airbnb for a month! 🌈🙏🙌🎉🇵🇪🌟🌺💃

Wicked 75min run by the ocean. Found my Surfing school and booked my first lesson.

And just my luck, big 10k race downtown... and my airbnb just 5mins from the finish line.

Lots and lots of work to do with our partners as we have a day-by-day critical path to make ALL our new Innovation!

We're tweaking and re-tweaking our recipes:

We want to make the darn BEST TASTING Pure Chocolate with 0g of Sugar added on the planet!

Bean-to-Bar of course!

Only the best cacao - to make the most flavourful and best tasting chocolate!

- organic cacao butter and powder and nibs

- coconut oil

- monk fruit concentrate

- chicory root fiber

- non GMO project verified

- kosher...

- plant based

Protein, more protein and protein...

New jars !!

New pouches !!!

The list goes on!

Lots of new innovation.. follow me here to get the first glimpse of many world's first products that will be made in just a few weeks!

Guevara Vanessa Graterol Cipriani Samara Avila Leal Melissa Pazmino Melanie Webb

22/04/2024

🩷 🌈 Newfoundland: Here I Come! First time ever! So Excited 🙌🙏

One of the most beautiful parts of Canada bar none!
.. and I've yet to go and visit!

Well.. it's about time you say!

So of course, when I was asked to be a Guest Speaker at the Annual conference of NLOWE, I eagerly jumped at this occasion!

Beyond thrilled and proud (and wee bit nervous) to give the Opening Plenary tomorrow morning at the NLOWE Annual conference !

My very FIRST (formal) speaking engagment !

The beginning of many I'm sure!

Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE)

Thank you for having me and trusting me to connect with your Members!

Big huge thanks to Krista Hazlie and the whole gang at NLOWE

I aim to:

=> share with you the inside story of my two Start-ups!
=> inspire everyone with my lifestory
=> motivate and fuel your inner voice as an Entrepreneur

I'm sure your Annual conference will be packed with the fuel and connections you need to drive towards your Growth and Objectives in the year to come!

And so proud to be a part of this year!

Side note:
The CMO in me knows that Newfoundland has some of the best Ad campaigns ever!

As a proud Canadian and a Marketer, these resonate some much! Keep it up! I'm on my way now finally!

Here I come via and

Follow along for some video clips and the Podcast Replay ....

Huge Thanks to Jennifer Bessell for trusting in me!

and to Michael Kaye@ye for getting me organized in my first Speaking engagement

PS - if you think I'd make a great guest speaker for your event.. hit me up in my DM's

Here we go! A whole new journey begins! Vamos! Listo!

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Andrew Furey
Melanie Webb Vanessa Graterol Cipriani Samara Avila Leal Melissa Pazmino Mateo Guevara

21/04/2024

It took me 18 hours to get back... Customs 3X, Security 5X ...and that's without any glitches!

Why do I personally fly all the way to Peru to work with our co-man's?

I'm the CEO/CMO: why do I need to fly down myself you ask?

Isn't easier for me to sit at my desk or in the Boardroom and just try samples made for me you ask?

Yup, DONE THAT. A gazillion X.

My carear has been phenomenal... marketing lead in 5 Multi-national CPG companies and also worked with 15 other clients/brands... why do this now?

I've myself launched over 300 innovation products/brands over my 30 years CPG career... I had Ops teams doing this slugging away...

Do all the Pure Chocolate brands we know here have their CEO spend days/days in South America?

I've NEVER EVER needed to fly 1/2 way around the world.

Why now you Ask ? ... just to smell cacao and taste beans?

Why does it even matter? Should I not be focused on the gross margin and other CEO-type stuff?

It matters:

South America is the home of the BEST TASTING and most flavourful cacao in the world

=> Pure Chocolate

=> Bean-to-Bar (think Farm-to-Fork, for chocolate!)

=> Cacao grown in the richest of soils, without pesticides, without accelerants

=> Loved and nurtured daily by the farmers as these grow in the back yard - not industrial production lines of cocoa (as in Africa and the coast)

=> NOT made with Alkalli (check the ingredients of your favourite PURE chocolate -betcha it sames "processed with Alkali!)

Some days I wake up and say to myself: "I'm 57. I'm at it a second time: trying to change the world a tiny bit with healther foods.... Am I nuts?"

Cacao is the HEALTHIEST ingredient on the planet loaded with antioxidants and flavanols.

Yet we process the heck out of it and add evil sugars and oils. Of course, ORGANIC

I'm on a Mission to make chocolate HEALTHY again.

Someone's gotta do it. It must be done: FourX The Better Chocolate

The World's Best Tasting Chocolate Just Got Healthier.

I have a job to do!

Try my chocolate. Taste the difference.

And I have wicked Innovation rolling out soon. Follow me. Share me. Spread the word. Lets change the world together.. bean by bean
Melanie Webb Vanessa Graterol Cipriani Melissa Pazmino Mateo Guevara Samara Avila Leal

16/04/2024

🙌🌈 TRIAL TRIAL TRIAL!!! 🙌🌈

What I learned my 1st day at my 1st Marketing job at Procter & Gamble as an Assistant Brand manager:

To support your Innovation launch, you must have wicked :
➡️ Awarness and
➡️ Trial Plans...

Back then, Innovation was the Grand Prize of your job!

Every ABM wanted to work on Brands with Innovation as that was where all the action was !

And you could NOT launch innovation without hitting on ALL your Key Success Factors (ie Purchase Intent, Product Scores, Value Scores, Kick butt Creative, Gross Margin, etc etc) and Stage-Gates Milestones!

And certainly not without strong Awareness & Trial Plans (the 4th P in "Suzie's 4Ps" that I teach in Founders Helping Founders)

Sampling Sampling Sampling!

I've done so so so many Sample Effectiveness Test across each of the 5 CPG Multinationals and 15+ clients I've worked for...

The results ALWAYS the same: the most effective sampling is always a combination of the RIGHT Size sample + Brand sell.

30 years later, my young Start-up friends at a Canadian brand that many of you know, has gone from $200k in Revenues to $5M in a matter of two years, fueld by FREE samples online.

Not much has changed: SAMPLING!

Figuring out the right Sampling format/tactics to hit your ROI remains the holy grail.

And when you have a superior product, it's even more critical to SAMPLE.

We learned that with Love Good Fats as we sampled over 2.7M bellies in 2019 and hit $47M in Revenues that year 2 (yes, millions).

Well, we just rolled out our FREE SAMPLE program on Meta for our FourX The Better Chocolate .

And we're off to a fast start!

Follow us and you will see our ads. Click away and get your FREE Sample. 4 Bites! (Canadians only)

Try our new Functional Chocolates with Benefits for FREE!

Then go buy them at your favourite Retailer.

We just stared and spending $40/day on ads and the Shopify orders are pouring in!

Big Thanks to Samara Avila Lealand our Meta guru Pierre Nouchet and the whole team at Go Direct Solutions Kellie Lefaive Chris Baum and Francine Bennett who is making this program hit our ROI targets!

Building our brand one belly at a time!

The World's Best Tasting Chocolate Just Got Healthier

Melanie Webb Vanessa Graterol Cipriani

31/03/2024

Happy Easter, for the Costco members / shoppers here Costco has a ONE day Sale Today(ends tonite)... Our FourX The Better Chocolate is the only Snack/Chocolate/bars brands chosen! Hurry, offer ends tonite! Best price hot sale. Go to Costco .ca or LInk below! Go Go Go

FourX Better Chocolate - Chocolate Bites, Variety Pack, 5 × 112 g